It's been a year since I finished the first draft of Beautiful Noise and it seems that every waking moment since then has been on how to get it made...right here in Sarasota. The writing and rewriting, the casting, the money chase, the crew decisions, the acquisition of the songs for the soundtrack, the size and scope of it all - it's been an all-encompassing siege on my senses and a journey like none I've ever encountered. And I love every minute of it. And now that we're on the eve of principal photography, at a time when I'm wrapped up in shot lists, rehearsals, locations and other critical logistics, my mind is already working overtime to figure out how best to market the movie when I complete post-production. It's not enough to simply bring this musical-drama to life...it's all about sharing the film with as wide an audience as possible...knowing full well that every indie film competes with the multimillion dollar Goliaths that come out of Hollywood every week. To that end, all I can say is - thank God for Ed Burns.
Edward Burns is not only one of my favorite actors but also a successful NY-based independent filmmaker who has a bead on the future of indie film distribution. While everyone hopes their epic little film garners praise and is seen in movie theatres all around the world, Mr. Burns intelligently points out that a feature film can be profitable and be seen by millions without ever gracing a local cinema. Given all the various platforms that exist today to see a movie - from DVD's to laptops to cable to I-phones, etc...Ed preaches the gospel of Reality to all his indie film disciples to "fall out of love with a theatrical release". And he's right. Thanks to today's digital age, I'm making Beautiful Noise at a fraction of the cost of the typical Hollywood release...and I defy you to be able to tell the difference between this Sarasota, Florida produced movie and many other small budget Hollywood films from a "production-look" standpoint, a Story standpoint, and especially from a Soundtrack standpoint.
Planning ahead to take advantage of the new portals available to present my movies to the universe just makes good sense and is certainly worth the time and effort before production starts. Ed Burns and others like him have blazed a trail for indie filmmakers to follow, so count me among those students of this intelligent, experienced storyteller. I hope to shake his hand and thank him personally someday for the guidance and inspiration.
For those of you who would like to learn more, I highly recommend you follow and connect with Ed Burns at: EdwardBurns.net and on Facebook and Twitter. And for Film School 101 lessons, be sure to watch Ed's first two movies on DVD - The Brothers McMullen & She's The One with Ed's Director's Commentary turned on. The information is priceless.
Steve
